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Feb 21, 2010

Florida Honda Dealer goes Green

The automotive industry is so important in leading Americans into a Green life. If auto-sellers truly get behind the realization that money can be made in selling Green autos( those which require less gas or perhaps little gas if hybrid electric or totally electric) then the savings that Green cars give the environment will take care of themselves.

The troubles with Prius are hopefully short term since it is the bellweather for Green autos. But Honda has Green cars and here's a story of a central Florida Honda auto dealer who is not only selling Green cars but is building a Green building to house it's dealership.

-Headquarter Honda, a new dealership under construction in Clermont on State Road 50, is being built to achieve LEED Platinum certification, meaning that it should meet the extremely aggressive standards set by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, in conjunction with the U.S. Green Building Council.

-"It costs about 35 percent more to build to LEED Platinum standards," said Jero Esteve IV, general manager of the dealership, which will open next March. "We hope to recoup that over a 10-year period," but the main reason Esteve's family-owned company is doing is "because it's the right thing to do."

The following statement is very exciting to hear we feel. Now instead of a dealer touting the gas guzzling "Hemi" engine as was vogue during the pre-Katrina GW Bush years, a dealer sees having a Green building as a feature that may sell more cars.

-Of course, there is a business motive: With so many dealers to choose from in a metro area like Orlando, having a "green" dealership "may help tip the scales in your favor," Esteve said.

Here are some features that give a building the ability to receive LEED certification?

...the $17 million Headquarter Honda will include construction with "environmentally-friendly materials, a 'living roof' system utilizing filter technology developed at the University of Central Florida, solar panels and water-efficient landscaping.'' It also will have water recycling tanks, a rain water reclaiming system, night light pollution reduction, energy saving 'intelligent' lighting, plus emission-capturing equipment for each car being serviced, bamboo flooring and a multiple recycling programs.

Thankfully this framework is not only in Florida,

The green-dealer concept is catching on across the country, said Charles Cyrill, public relations director for the NADA. Some of the innovations are amazingly clever, such as using vegetable oil to power the hydraulic lifts in the garage. Other innovations:

— A Subaru dealer in Texas, which needed to landscape during a water shortage, used native cactus and shrubs and heather grass that saves $1,200 a month in water costs, $1,000 a month of maintenance costs.

— A Toyota dealer in Arkansas uses collected rain water and condensation from its air conditioning system to provide water for car washes.

An auto mall in Maryland uses electricity-generating windmills for power.